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Establishing an Effective Soulwinning Program

Developing Your People as Soulwinners

What begins in the pastor’s heart will be contagious if it is communicated and structured biblically. This is God’s design. He works through spiritual leaders to mobilize His people and accomplish His purpose. This has been true from the time of the book of Genesis to today. If your church is not a soulwinning church, it is either because you are not a soulwinner, or because you are not communicating and managing your soulwinning passion properly. What God does in your life, He desires to spill over into the entire church’s life if you will allow Him.

What will you and your leaders do to involve the entire membership in the effort of reaching the lost? What system, what program, what training materials, and what details must be put into place? Let me share a few things that have consistently worked well for our church.

Have an annual soulwinning kickoff.

Twice each year we enlist and re-enlist our church family into weekly soulwinning. We often have a big service, decorations, special handouts, and some fresh training ideas. This is a big event on our annual church calendar.

Provide multiple soulwinning opportunities.

The more scheduled soulwinning opportunities you have in the week, the more people you will involve. We have three primary church soulwinning times—Tuesday morning, Tuesday evening, and Saturday morning.

Cultivate the field of souls.

Many modern efforts of “church marketing” are meant to replace door-to-door soulwinning. I challenge you to view your media efforts differently than the modern-day “church architects.” View all of your media and mailing efforts the same way you would view a farmer plowing a field. These efforts prepare the soil for the seed. Every time we have a billboard or TV commercial campaign, our soulwinners are more warmly received at the front door. These media outlets do not replace soulwinning; they prepare the way for it!

Vary your approach in soulwinning.

For many years, we have knocked on every door in our area at least four times each year. This has forced us to come up with creative variations so that we are not merely annoying people. Our church family still goes door-to-door soulwinning, but now we go with new-move-in welcome packets, with tickets or brochures about special events, or with some other seasonal gift.

Establish a strategic system of tracking contacts.

Do you know who visited your church last month, who followed up on them, and what happened? Do you know who is continuing to follow up? Having a system of collecting information, distributing visits, and tracking progress will help you steward every opportunity you have to bring others to Christ.

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